Like with any kind of service for a residence or business, it is important to do a substantial amount of research on the company you are deciding to do business with before you make any commitments. It is also important to make sure and research every aspect of the pricing when it comes to signing up with a service like a Voice over Internet Protocol communication service for your residential location or business office. Some VoIP providers do not indicate all of the costs up front or hide some of the additional charges that will be made to your account if you go over a certain amount of allotted minutes. If you ever have any questions about the hidden costs of VoIP, it is a good idea to make sure you ask those questions toward a customer service representative from the VoIP company you are considering.
Hidden Costs of VoIP:
Many companies and businesses are making the switch to VoIP technology for their business communication costs vs. traditional calling because of the perception of savings that can be had by switching to VoIP. However, it is important to make sure you are cashing in on the savings, but not being swindled by the hidden costs of VoIP that are not always disclosed up front with many VoIP companies. Some companies will place the additional costs in less-trafficked location on their website or deep within the terms and conditions. This is how they are able to get away with charging extra fees, without having to put it in bold letters on the front page of their website.
Some of these hidden costs of VoIP include fees for certain types of calling. For example, some VoIP companies will charge a convenience fee for payment transactions, fees for VoIP 911 calls or fees disguised as a Cost Recovery Fee. Usually these are only a few dollars per customer, so the customer does not even wonder what the charge is for, and instead continue to pay it month after month. However, the VoIP provider is cashing in on a few dollars here and there from every single customer, which can add up in the thousands and even millions of dollars depending on the size of the company’s customer base.
To avoid these hidden fees, be sure and go through your bill on a monthly basis to assess what you are being charged and why. If you ever have one of those vague fees that don’t really indicate what you are paying for, be sure to contact your VoIP provider sales and support team to figure it out. It is both unfair and unethical for companies to charge these hidden fees to their customers, yet they continue to do so. This is why it is so important for customers to do their own due diligence and properly research their bill and their potential VoIP provider before they sign up with the service. The customer should never assume that the company does not intend to charge them hidden fees and essentially take advantage of their customers. Instead, the customer needs to be on top of what they are being charged. This is why it is often times important to choose a VoIP provider that does not work by contract and will not charge a cancelation fee for stopping their VoIP services. If you find that you are being charged unfair hidden fees, be sure to get those fees removed. If your provider refuses to remove the menial hidden costs of VoIP with your service, then you will have the option to leave and go elsewhere for your VoIP communication needs.
Another way to sidestep these hidden costs of VoIP is to choose a VoIP provider that will allow for prepay service. This is a good way to avoid all of those service charges that are often so small that the customer does not even notice the charge on their bill. Secondly, prepay is also a good way to not get charged extra for certain types of calling, which can often be a hidden cost of VoIP. Ultimately it comes down to the responsibility of the consumer to choose their VoIP services wisely. If you have a problem with hidden costs and fees with your current VoIP provider, there is always the option to report the issue to the Better Business Bureau. As more and more consumers take an active approach to stopping their providers from taking advantage of them with hidden fees, lawmakers will continue to appeal to those wishes and crack down on the corporate greed of so many huge corporations.